Aston V8 4.3 Vantage

[ReformedPistonhead]

Morning all,

My son has decided that the Vantage is one of the best looking cars there is and that he needs a V8 in his life, they are not the fastest but they make a great noise, have a lovely interior and are just v classy. It also helps that for a 20-year old the insurance on this is 30% of the insurance on an A3 3.2 Quattro costing 20% as much, makes no sense at all.

So we did some searching and bought one privately at the weekend, £25k, 40k miles, full specialist service history including a £5k bill 3 months ago. MOT'd the day before we bought it. Equipped with most of his savings and a loan from me it was purchased in west London and driven home to Suffolk to join my V12VSM in the garage. You could buy 5 of his for one of mine so it makes an interesting comparison...



The drive home was uneventful, fortunately, 150 miles done and we were all happy.

Got home and went through the long service history, some bonuses!

- New clutch & flywheel 4,000 miles ago
- New plugs and coil packs 4,000 miles ago
- New battery
- Belts and pulleys replaced in the summer
- New door modules both sides in the summer
- Fully ACFd underneath so it looks good

Some not so good points:
- Mismatched front and rear ditch finder tyres
- Headlights really cloudy
- Tiny oil leak from bottom of timing cover, really tiny for now

[ReformedPistonhead]

So I don't want to sound tone-deaf to the cost of living crisis etc, but it is our goal to improve the car, have him drive it for 2 years and then hopefully sell in the summer for more than we paid.

As a result we have the following things on order which have rather added to the costs and in the interest of being transparent here is what it has really cost us so far:

- Car £25k
- Tax 1 year £695
- Insurance 1 year £1,200 (yes really, 20-year old, in his name, SDP & commuting, parked on driveway!)
- CarPlay + rear camera kit £1,600
- Alloy wheel refurbs £250
- New tyres MP4SS's £1,000
- New struts (boot, bonnet, doors) £200
- Headlamp polishing kits and 3M film £60

So until yesterday at 6pm we were at around £30k to run it for a year, exc Tax. Obviously would get a lot of that back if we sell it.

Planned to fit all of the above at the weekend

[ReformedPistonhead]

So last night we were introduced to the risks of buying a 17 year old car privately....

He was out with a friend and of course was doing a nice 2nd gear pull to 7k rpm. There was a bang and some noise. He thought maybe he had run over something as the car seemed fine.

We stuck it on the lift at home and I found a piece of metal in the bottom of the wishbone which had a label on it. Denso 5SA12C 447260-0043. You couldn't make it up it is literally a shard of metal with a label.

A quick google reveals "Aston Martin Vantage Air Conditioning Compressor"

Further investigation reveals this:



Somehow the combination of a re-gas 300 miles ago, 400 miles a year for the last 10 years, being parked outside and a 7k rpm blast has caused the compressor to self-destruct.

Ouch.

So now we are ordering a new one, prices vary from £99 Aliexpress to £850 Aston main dealer. I think we will land in the middle and hopefully fit it ourselves, then get it re-gassed.

Cue one very upset 20-year old and another loan from me, meaning he will be paying back for several years....

[IainWhy]

you may need to lift the engine a bit to get the clearance needed but i doubt it will be hard to do, Plenty of space at the front one you have the intake tubes and some other junk out of the way.

As to the compressor, personally i would just get a used one, aston martin bits I would think have a bucket full.

[ReformedPistonhead]

Thank you.

I am wary of a used one given our used one just detonated. V weird that the side of the compressor blew off (will post photos once we remove it) rather than just a hose popped.

AM Bits is at around £450 for a reconditioned unit. I worry if I buy an eBay special for £450 that I end up getting the £99 Aliexpress one in a different box.

[JAMSXR]

Dream dad material here, provided your interest rates are low!

Not sure I would get this past the steering committee, but I’ve got 18 years until my youngest is 20 so there’s time to work on her.

Lovely car, and hopefully no more surprises.

[ReformedPistonhead]

He lives at home, works 12 hours a day and will pay me 50% of his take home every month until it is paid back.

And the man-maths says depreciation should be minimal and if we improve the car it may even go up.

And he is 20 and drives an Aston Martin so is the happiest kid in the world.

I was driving a £500 Vauxhall Cavalier 1600L when I was his age.

Edited by ReformedPistonhead on Tuesday 28th November 11:02

[vixen1700]

Think these have aged really well, great looking and sounding cars.

That insurance quote sounds remarkable for a 20 year old.

Hope you both enjoy it.

[Earthdweller]

Lucky lad!

Amazing how a left field choice can have such a bearing on insurance costs

Lovely car, prob my fav AM

[Jhonno]

Well that is somewhat of an improvement on any Audi.. He'll be the coolest kid about

[ReformedPistonhead]

Earthdweller said:

Lucky lad!

Amazing how a left field choice can have such a bearing on insurance costs

Lovely car, prob my fav AM

I can only guess that the number of 20-year olds driving around in a V8 Vantage is low, and those that do tend to be car nuts and therefore take more care, hence fewer claims, hence cheaper insurance.

I have emphasised to him the importance of defensive driving, it doesn't matter if you are in the right when someone who cannot drive properly crashes into you, you still have a claim; hence drive the car the way you ride a motorbike, i.e. assume everyone else on the road is trying to kill you. If he stays claim and points free hopefully the insurance stays low.

It's with a well known brand with a naval name and on a multi-car policy (which has 7 cars on it now). If you phone and haggle they seem to be able to do good things with prices. This is with 0 no claims also given his NCB is currently being used on his MGB GT which is insured elsewhere (£600 classic policy).

[ReformedPistonhead]

Here are two of our other "bespoke concerns":

At the weekend we will mask off then polish with the Autoglym restoration kit.




and what they should look like (my car) when finished, fortunately they still work underneath, no condensation:

[LanceRS]

Picture taken outside the seller’s house?

If it’s the car I think it is, he’s around the corner from my mother. It’s lived on that drive for as long as I can remember and it was rare for it to be out.

Good luck and hope it gets properly enjoyed.

[ReformedPistonhead]

Yes. Really lovely chap. Had it 12 years. 400 miles a year driven. Serviced each year. Parked outside.

Under sealed every year though according to history receipts.

[LanceRS]

I thought that he’d had it longer than that, must be getting old.

[ReformedPistonhead]

He gave £37,0000 for it 12 years ago. That's £1,000 a year (plus a lot of servicing, it seemed to average £1.5k per year at an independent Aston specialist from the receipts).

So road tax £600, depreciation £1,000, servicing £1,500, petrol for 400 miles £150, lets guess insurance at £750

That's £4,000 a year to have an Aston outside your window that you go get the paper in every Sunday, or £333 a month.

I don't think that is too bad in the grand scheme of things, all in.

Alternatively it is £9.60 a mile for the mileage he did in that time, a black cab may have been cheaper...

[ridds]

ReformedPistonhead said:

So last night we were introduced to the risks of buying a 17 year old car privately....

He was out with a friend and of course was doing a nice 2nd gear pull to 7k rpm. There was a bang and some noise. He thought maybe he had run over something as the car seemed fine.

We stuck it on the lift at home and I found a piece of metal in the bottom of the wishbone which had a label on it. Denso 5SA12C 447260-0043. You couldn't make it up it is literally a shard of metal with a label.

A quick google reveals "Aston Martin Vantage Air Conditioning Compressor"

Further investigation reveals this:



Somehow the combination of a re-gas 300 miles ago, 400 miles a year for the last 10 years, being parked outside and a 7k rpm blast has caused the compressor to self-destruct.

Ouch.

So now we are ordering a new one, prices vary from £99 Aliexpress to £850 Aston main dealer. I think we will land in the middle and hopefully fit it ourselves, then get it re-gassed.

Cue one very upset 20-year old and another loan from me, meaning he will be paying back for several years....

Check the O-Rings on the Inlet and Outlet pipes, common issue, cheap fix.

[PlywoodPascal]

I suppose you can just consider the difference in the insurance costs as a maintenance budget.

[ReformedPistonhead]

ridds said:

Check the O-Rings on the Inlet and Outlet pipes, common issue, cheap fix.

Thanks. Will get get part numbers and order a set.

[ReformedPistonhead]

PlywoodPascal said:

I suppose you can just consider the difference in the insurance costs as a maintenance budget.

That seems to be the case so far sadly!

Will keep the thread updated and see how we go.